politics

We’re one week into 45’s administration and a lot has happened. I will now be referring to Trump as 45. For all the people during the campaign who said they take him seriously, but not literally – I hope you’re awake now. Track Trump is a new site that tracks what 45’s promise was for his first 100 days against what’s really happening. This is a useful “at a glance” list. However, I would recommend two improvements. 1. The green, yellow, red method of done/not done, easily lends itself to a “green = good” or green = complete. I believe that most of the things on this list aren’t good for the American people, and a lot of the items can’t just be “done” by an executive order by the President. The list should also state the channel or department it has to be approved by or the legality and enforceability of any of these Executive Orders. It’s been a long week.

What I’m reading this week:

Anne Frank and her family were also denied entry as refugees to the US – Anne Frank would have been 87 this year. Her father applied for visas to the US. Frank wrote on April 30, 1941, “Perhaps you remember that we have two girls. It is for the sake of the children mainly that we have to care for. Our own fate is of less importance.” Anne, her sister Margot, and mother all died in concentration camps. Holocaust Remembrance Day was this week. I believe Anne Frank would have continued to write and advocate for more empathy and kindness in immigration policy. –via Washington Post

DO: The majority of American’s don’t agree with 45’s new Executive Order on Immigration that bans refugees and even green card and visa holders from seven Muslim countries from entering the US. Get vocal about this. Donate your time or money (ACLU and IRC are two organizations leading this fight.).

“Sanctuary city” means Portland will remain welcoming to all – Our new mayor Ted Wheeler (along with many other cities and states around the nation) has taken a stand against 45’s EO about cutting funding to sanctuary cities if they don’t comply. Here are a few highlights if you’re unfamiliar with what this is all about:

much like it is the responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service to enforce federal tax policy. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. (ie. your local police aren’t going to come after you because you owe back taxes)

“Oregon state law dating back to 1987 prohibits state and local police from enforcing federal immigration law if a person is not involved in criminal activity.”

Residents, regardless of immigration status, should not be afraid go to the police with information on crimes for fear that they might be deported. They should not be afraid to access critical services or seek refuge from domestic abuse and homeless services. They should not be afraid to bring their children to school. –via Oregon Live

DO: Oregon is fairly insulated already by our leaders taking a stand. It remains to be seen how this particular issue will impact us later. The easiest way to keep up on what’s happening on these issues is to follow your local leaders on social (Twitter or Facebook). Here’s my Twitter list of local leaders.

Don’t forget who the enemy is. You. “Populism can only survive amid polarization. It works through caricature, through the unending vilification of a cartoonish enemy. Pro tip: you’re the enemy.”2. Show no contempt. Don’t feed polarization, disarm it.3. Don’t try to force him out. “A hissy-fit is not a strategy. The people on the other side, and crucially Independents, will rebel against you if you look like you’re losing your mind. All non-democratic channels are counter-productive: you lower your message, and give the Populist rhetorical fuel.”4. Find a counter-argument. “the problem is not the message but the messenger. It’s not that Trump supporters are too stupid to see right from wrong, it’s that you’re much more valuable to them as an enemy than as a compatriot. The problem is tribal. Your challenge is to prove that you belong in the same tribe as them: that you are American in exactly the same way they are.” –via Caracas Chronicles

These ‘Sleeping Pods’ Provide Safety and Warmth for Portland’s Homeless – Jumping on the tiny home craze, architects in partnership with PSU students have designed a bunch of tiny home sleeping “pods” that will be used in a pod village in Kenton. The village will be for women. “An estimated 3,800 people in Multnomah County are houseless, according to a 2015 report by the city, and of that population, 49 percent sleep unsheltered every night.” –via Portland Monthly

This Week’s Actions: This week, I sent a few emails to my Senators and House rep about issues that are important to me (Oregon reps are very vocal about where they stand and I don’t need to tie up their phones to tell them I agree), read and researched more about how executive orders impact us, donated to IRC to help their work with Syrian refugees, and started re-reading Don’t Think of an Elephant.

Yesterday was so inspiring. Millions(!) of women and men turned out around the world to stand up and say “hey, we’re still here!”, and that we’re united in the fight for equality and decency for all people. All people. 100,000 Portlanders came out! In the pouring rain, naturally.

This is just what I needed after Friday. Friday was a day of mourning for many reasons. I’ve had trouble putting my thoughts into words and sentences. This is my first blog post of 2017. I started this blog to talk about the positive and what I can do to make things better in my community and on a local level.

Yesterday was much needed inspiration. This is what democracy looks like. This is what can happen when millions of people make a statement. This is what the future looks like. Seeing my 3 year old niece with her sign “Make America Kind Again”, which she later decided said “Be Kind, Love a Balloon” instead, gives me hope for the future.

We need love, indeed.

Now What? We must continue taking action. Yes, it’s great and inspiring to see millions of people marching. 100,000 people in Portland. If we 100,000 continue to take action, think of what we can accomplish! There are more kind and forward-thinking people in the US than not. But we have to keep moving and taking action.

What I’m reading this week:Voting Should Be Mandatory – “Trump triumphed in a low-turnout election.” “In a compulsory election, it does not pay to energize your base to the exclusion of all other voters. Since elections cannot be determined by turnout, they are decided by swing voters and won in the center. Australia has its share of xenophobic politicians, but they tend to dwell in minor parties that do not even pretend they can form a government.” “There is also evidence that compulsory voting lifts civic engagement over all.”

DO: Here’s where Oregon stands on the National Popular Vote bill. It has died in the Oregon senate previously. Contact your local rep. In North/North East Portland, that’s Lew Frederick and ask them to support it.

4 Big Themes for Cities in 2017 – I love City Observatory’s posts on urban living, planning, policy etc. They’ve outlined some things they’ve learned in the last few years. 1. The growing economic importance of city centers. 2. The shortage of cities. 3. The need to rethink transportation policy. 4. The challenge of segregation, integration, and neighborhood change.

DO: Read through at least one of the links they’ve included in this post. I’ve learned a lot by reading their research and writing, some of which challenges my assumptions. We all have a lot to learn and it’s fascinating.

DO: Our Senators in Oregon already have our backs. Since nothing has actually been suggested by Republicans yet, I’m not sure what we can do, other than staying up-to-date on what’s happening and what smart and informed people like Bernie Sanders are recommending.

DO: Ask questions of our leaders. Read and watch video of what has happened. I don’t have the answers here, but I do know that this difference in treatment doesn’t feel right. How do we find the balance between right to assemble/expression and protection of public space from a few destructive people who hide in these assemblies (like what happened in downtown in November)?

This Week’s Actions: This week, I attended the Women’s March on Washington in Portland, emailed my local Oregon Senator for North Portland about the National Popular Vote bill, and read and researched upcoming changes and current issues facing me as a Portland-citizen and on a national level.

With only three weeks left in the year, I’ve been thinking about how I can best use my project time in 2017.

What I’m reading this week:

Four Million Commutes Reveal New U.S. ‘Megaregions’ – “As megaregions grow in size and importance, economists, lawmakers, and urban planners need to work on coordinating policy at this new scale. But when it comes to defining the extent of a megaregion, they find themselves running into the same problems geographers and cartographers have always had when trying to delineate conceptual areas. Because megaregions are defined by connections—things like interlocking economies, transportation links, shared topography, or a common culture—it’s tough to know where their boundaries lie.” –via National Geographic

DO: Check out the “megaregion” map for your area. Is where you live and work in a region that makes sense from a transportation planning funding perspective?

Let’s Not Be Divided. Divided People Are Easier to Rule. – This is a great, short read by Trevor Noah. “the vast majority of Americans, both Republican and Democrat, wanted many of the same things: good jobs, decent homes, access to opportunity and, above all, respect.” “When you grow up in the middle, you see that life is more in the middle than it is on the sides. The majority of people are in the middle, the margin of victory is almost always in the middle, and very often the truth is there as well, waiting for us.” –via The New York Times

DO: How can we focus on more nuance in our daily life?

Sally Jewell on the Future of the Department of the Interior – Interesting interview with Sally Jewell, our outgoing Secretary of the Interior on climate change, public lands and advice for incoming Secretary. “We all come with a set of skills, and those are useful but not sufficient, so surround yourself with people that help fill that gap. Second, this job is about listening deeply to different points of view. You can’t go in with a fixed frame.” “the first outdoor-industry study based on hard data showed that the recreation economy is almost as big as pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, and motor-vehicle parts combined. That is extraordinary. That narrative has been lost, oftentimes, to the value of public lands for extractive purposes. But what the REC Act begins to do is to monetize the value of lands in conservation. This is an industry that employs millions of people. It supports rural economies. The legislation will ensure that it continues. “–via Outside Online

Real Christmas Trees Or Fake Ones — Which Are Better For The Planet? – Since it’s December, I was thinking about Christmas trees and the impact on the environment and community. In the Pacific Northwest, it seems like real Christmas trees are the way to go since it supports the local economy – the trees are grown for the purpose of being Christmas trees and trees are “recyclable” back to nature. Things I hadn’t thought about: buying a fake try can make sense in areas that don’t have Christmas trees local or if you keep it for a very long time (8-20 years). — via HuffPo

DO: Consider the pros and cons of real versus fake as you decorate this year.

Vancouver’s Multi-Modal Success Story – Gordon Price (urban planner and influential in a lot of transportation and land use success for the City of Vancouver for several decades) was our final lecture for my Traffic & Transportation class. This video shows some of the more resent work the city has made to reach 50% sustainable mode share (bike, walk, transit) a full four years earlier than goal (2020). –via StreetFilms

DO: How can we help reach a more sustainable split of driving versus walking, biking, transit here? This week, if you’re going less than 1 mile, try walking.

A policy that works: Raising the minimum wage– Higher minimum wages result in greater earnings for low wage workers, and no loss of jobs. “The key argument against raising the minimum wage is that it would somehow cause employers to reduce the hours of work of employees subject to the minimum, and thereby lower the total number of job opportunities.” Such a strange phenomenon that the going thought is still that raising minimum wage reduces employment, when research and real examples has proven otherwise. –via City Observatory

DO: Read up on Oregon’s minimum wage rates that will increase to $14.75 by 2022.

This week was my final Traffic & Transportation class at PSU. It’s been super inspiring to learn from regional transportation professionals through the weekly lectures, and to see what interests fellow Portlanders to make positive changes in our communities. Over the next quarter, I plan to keep up a weekly “class night” to work on projects and learn.

What I’m reading this week:

Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency: Inside a stunned White House, the President considers his legacy and America’s future. – This one is a long read, but worth the time. Some quotes I enjoyed: “Ideally, in a democracy, everybody would agree that climate change is the consequence of man-made behavior, because that’s what ninety-nine per cent of scientists tell us,” he said. “And then we would have a debate about how to fix it. That’s how, in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, you had Republicans supporting the Clean Air Act and you had a market-based fix for acid rain rather than a command-and-control approach. So you’d argue about means, but there was a baseline of facts that we could all work off of. And now we just don’t have that.”

“The thing that I have always been convinced of,” he said, “the running thread through my career, has been this notion that when ordinary people get engaged, pay attention, learn about the forces that affect their lives and are able to join up with others, good stuff happens.” –via The New Yorker

DO: In the words of our President… Get engaged. Pay attention. Learn about the forces that affect your life. Join up with other. Good stuff will happen.

Does rent control work? Evidence from Berlin – It’s been a year since Berlin enacted a cap on rent increases on existing rentals (based on age, size, # of floors and amenities etc) with modest increases over time. New construction and apartments that are substantially renovated are exempt from the rent control limits. “While posed as a way of promoting affordability for low income households, in practice, rent control may actually provide greater benefits for higher income renters. High income renters may be more savvy in dealing with landlords and exercising their rights, and less subject to the economic dislocations that force low income households to move from rent controlled apartments. Over time, having acquired the “right” to live in a rent controlled apartment, some better off households may choose not to move, or to buy a home, with the result being a lower rate of turnover in apartments: further restricting the supply of housing.” –via City Observatory

DO: Housing affordability is a really complex issue. I’m trying to learn about the different sides and the cause and effect of what some policy changes might do here in Portland.

Mayors Set a Tight Deadline to Initiate Climate Action – “The C40 plan calls for member cities to reduce the average emission per person from 5 metric tons to 2.9 by 2030. That reduction will largely come through city-wide “climate actions,” which include things like installing bike lanes and retrofitting buildings with clean energy sources. Collectively, cities have taken 11,000 actions like these so far. By 2020, they’ll need 14,000 more, and roughly three-quarters of that must come from wealthy, high carbon-emitting cities located mostly in the global north.” “Mayors, state, and subnational governments are in a stronger position to deliver on their promises than national governments.” –via City Lab

DO: Portland is an “Innovator City” in the C40. Portland has a Climate Action Plan hidden in the depths of despair that is the Portlandoregon.gov website. Here’s a link to the full pdf The “At a Glance” section is 26 pages in. “This Climate Action Plan identifies twenty 2030 objectives and more than one hundred actions to be completed or significantly underway in the next five years.”

This Week’s Actions: This week, I attended my final Traffic and Transportation Class at PSU, donated to a local environmental nonprofit through GiveGuide!, and stayed off Facebook (25 days now!).

I’ve had some fascinating conversations in the last week about land use (rent, housing, parking), transportation, politics, public lands, and race! Like many, I’m feeling a mix of hope and fear for our communities and country. I’ve been trying to listen and ask more questions. With the holiday season here, the next month is going to fly by. I need to make a conscious effort to keep this Better Portland project going.

What I’m reading this week:

Parking: The price is wrong – this article has an interesting look at Portland handicap placard use and how changing the policy around it freed up parking and abuse of the placards “Spaces occupied by placard users dropped 70%.” “The larger lesson here should be abundantly clear: charging users for something approaching the value of the public space that they are using produces a transportation system that works better for everyone.” –via City Observatory

DO: Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is currently studying parking in five neighborhoods: St Johns, NE 28th, Hollywood, Division, Mississippi. Portland City Council will be discussing NW parking on Dec 22, 2016.

Choosing a Daily Political action – I signed up for several of these daily political action emails/websites this week to see what they recommend. MyCivicWorkout (5-30 minute “workouts” for civic activism), Flippable (winning the country back one seat at a time), and DeedsDigest (Deeds not words). One of the things I found in common when I signed up for these, they’re geared more for folks in red states, but still useful reminders.

DO: Sign up for a daily political action email and see if it’s useful or changes any of your weekly behavior.

City of Portland boosts network with 5.6 miles of newly buffered bike lanes – PBOT used $80,000 that was left over from larger capital projects that came in under budget to upgrade 5.6 miles of bike lanes around Portland for safety upgrades. “Along with new buffers on existing bike lanes, the city has also put the money toward bike-related crossing treatments at major intersections, signage, and new bike lanes where they didn’t exist before.” –via Bike Portland

DO: Have you noticed any of these upgrades? There’s a full list on the link above. Share or reach out to let the city know you like this and want to see more!

DO: Check out the idea list halfway through article. Give to organizations, start using your social channels for advocacy, make calls etc. GiveGuide has a great roundup of our local environmental nonprofits to support.

DO: Pick one thing from the list and do it this next week. This last week I tried to focus on diversifying my media.

Rents are plunging in the most expensive markets – Fascinating article about housing market and the new apartment supply. Average rents are actually decreasing year over year, and landlords are piling on the concessions… “Nearly all of the new supply is high end, and it is pressuring the market from the top down.” “None of the razor-thin capitalization rates landlords used a year ago to bamboozle creditors into lending them money make sense anymore. Vacant units make their plight worse. Creditors are getting nervous. But the renting folk, after having their lifeblood squeezed out of them over the past years, will have the option of moving again a year later, with lots of apartments to choose from – or commence tough negotiations with the landlord – to get a better deal in this new phase of Housing Bubble 2.” –via Business Insider

DO: Here in Portland, average rent for a 2 bedroom has actually decreased 4.7% year over year to $1,620. Have you seen any signs of a “Housing Bubble 2”? Think about how another could impact you and your community.

This Week’s Actions: This week, I shared what I’m working on with a few more people, stayed off Facebook (19 days now!), signed up for several “political action” emails and websites, and contacted a few political leaders in Washington.

Week two. Did you know that the average person spends 50 minutes per day on Facebook (and Instagram)? We spend more time on Facebook per day, than we do reading (19 min), exercising (17 min), and at social events (4 min) combined. Source

That’s almost 6 hours per week of scrolling and tapping through our friends’ lives. As you can see, I’m having a bit of a love/hate relationship with social media this month. I tried to spend more of those six hours doing something – learning, creating, participating, but I also probably spent too long on Twitter. Ha!

DO: We actually have a lot more power than we sometimes think. Know of a bike lane or pedestrian area that is a safety concern or needs work? Be vocal. Let the city know. Here’s PBOT’s Traffic/Safety reporting form.

In election aftermath, Blumenauer resolute on transportation agenda – here’s a great interview with Earl Blumenauer, our congressman on his current agenda and the future of “livable communities”. “If we can connect with people on things that matter to them and we can engage activists and advocates, than people can be persuaded to support the things we care about.” –via Bike Portland

DO: Have a conversation with someone about what matters to them from a transportation perspective.

Leaving Women out of Donald Trump’s Cabinet is Not Just Wrong It’s Dangerous – Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new prime minister, appointed a 50:50 ratio of male and female to his cabinet. Obama’s was 35% female. Trump’s is currently projected to be less than 10%, the lowest representation since the 1970s. “Group problem-solving abilities significantly improved for mixed-sex groups compared with all-male groups. Duke University researchers similarly found that women reacted to decision-making under stress by making safer, surer decisions, while men reacted by making riskier, go-for-the-big-win choices.” –via Newsweek

DO: Trump’s transition website is asking for you to “Share your ideas” (red link at the bottom of the page). Tell him you want more women and people of color represented in cabinet positions.

Oregon side-note on the above article: On the state and county level my current representatives are 43% female. On the city level, it will be 40% for the new year (city council will be an even split male/female and mayor is male). But, only one person of color, so 8%. Not sure how those stats look on a state level, but that’s the breakdown for my districts living in North Portland.

DO: Read through the list of possible predictions and identify your top 1-2 fears or concerns. How can you help?

This Week’s Actions: This week, I donated to a local cause through Give!Guide, shared what I’m working on with a few people, went to my Traffic and Transportation class at PSU, presented my project to the class (I’ll post about it soon), stayed off Facebook (12 days now!), I’m using Twitter to share my thoughts and @-ing political representatives, I also followed all my local reps so I can easily see what they’re putting out on social, and followed a dozen people that are different than me to see a different perspective.

Welcome. It’s been a rough week. Better Portland is a new project. I want to document what I’m learning as I try to help make our city a better place. The goal for myself is less news and social media consumption “faux action/outrage”, more listening, more action. Here goes…

What I’m reading this week:

A Tax Credit for Renters – “Our tax code is highly skewed towards homeownership. Between the deductions for mortgage interest expenses and property taxes, the exclusion of capital gains on sales of homes, and the non-taxation of the imputed rent of owner-occupied homes, the federal government spends the equivalent of about $250 billion per year supporting home ownership.” Three ideas from the Terner Center:

“rental affordability” plan: households with incomes of less than 80 percent of the median a tax credit equal to the difference between 30 percent of their household income and the lesser of the actual rent they paid or the small area fair market rent for their neighborhood. The average participant would get assistance of about $474 per month.

“rent reduction” plan – give households a sliding credit of between 12 and 25 percent of their rental payments. This plan would provide less relief—average benefits would be about $227 per household.

combo approach – providing more generous voucher-like benefits for the 3 million lowest income households, and a variant of the rent reduction plan for all other eligible households. –via City Observatory

DO: Share the article, share with our mayor-elect Ted Wheeler (ted@tedwheeler.com) or Tweet him. Not sure yet how we can help support Terner Center for this proposal.

DO: Attend the St John’s neighborhood forum on Monday, November 14 at 7:30pm.

Who Votes for Mayor – In the last May election, in Portland, 59.4% of eligible voters voted. This is really high turnout compared to most cities (average is below 15%)!? Interestingly, in Portland, 88.4% of registered voters over the age of 65 voted, as compared to 56.7% of registered voters aged 18 to 34.

DO: Talk with friends and family about voting. Don’t shame. Listen. How can we help more people vote?

Hillary Clinton’s Concession Speech – “This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.” “My friends, let us have faith in each other, let us not grow weary and lose heart, for there are more seasons to come and there is more work to do.” –full transcript on Vox

DO: What work can we do to make sure the next four years are not a total loss?

Voters renew Metro parks and natural areas levy (Measure 26-178) – greater Portland metro region approved a renewal of Metro’s parks and natural areas levy. The renewal is projected to raise about $81 million over the course of five years (through 2023). About half of the money will go toward restoring and maintaining natural areas to improve water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. About 20 to 30 percent will go toward regional parks operations. The rest will go toward improving parks and natural areas for people, grants for community nature projects, and nature education and volunteer programs. The levy costs 9.6 cents per $1,000 in assessed home value. —via Metro

DO: Voted. If you’re a renter, this was free for you. If you’re a homeowner, this was on average $38 per year, or $3 a month or 75 cents a week (based on median assessed value of $395k).

Portland Voters Pass Affordable Housing Measure (Measure 26-179) – Portland voters have passed a $258 million housing bond that will raise property taxes to fund 1,300 units of affordable housing. The bond will go toward alleviating the city’s current shortage of 23,845 affordable units, as determined by the Portland Housing Bureau. The bond will raise property taxes 42 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. A home with Portland’s median home value of $394,800 will pay about $190 more in annual property taxes. Only 950 of the 1,300 units funded by Measure 26-179 will be newly constructed. The other 350 will be acquired by the city from existing private sector stock and preserved as affordable housing. —viaOPB

DO: Voted. If you’re a renter, this was free for you. If you’re a homeowner, this was on average $166 per year, or $14 a month or $3.20 a week (based on median assessed value of $395k).

How Transit Fared in the 2016 Election – Voters in cities and counties around the U.S. decided on nearly $200 billion in transit funding, the most in any single election in the country’s history. Many of the measures were in California, but one Pacific Northwest win was King, Pierce and Snohomish counties who funded by a $54 billion package of increased sales, property and motor vehicle excise taxes, Sound Transit 3, the third phase of Sound Transit’s operations expansion, will add 116 miles of light rail including a second line in Seattle and a “spine” of rail from Everett to the north and Tacoma to the south. It will also increase commuter rail frequency, express bus service and create new bus rapid transit lines. —via NextCity.org

All Politics is National – How state politicians went from solving the problems in their own backyards to mimicking the gridlock in Washington. –via FiveThirtyEight

DO: Share. Research what happened in local politics this election.

Give Guide – The annual Give!Guide kicked off last week, with a simple look at 141 of Portland’s most impactful nonprofits. Give what you can. As usual, there are some great incentives which makes the whole thing more fun. —via Willamette Week’s Give Guide

About

Just a Portlander working on action steps for our lovable, livable city. I'm documenting what I learn as I try to help make our city a better place. The goal for myself is less news and social media consumption “faux action/outrage”, more listening, more action.